Keep what the county already over-collected.
Most Pennsylvania homeowners who appeal pull the record card, walk it line by line, and recover what the county took in error — the refund isn't a favor, it's an adjustment. The filing window runs by the county-published BAA sitting window under 53 Pa.C.S. § 881-886, with Court of Common Pleas review on the record under § 884 when the BAA denies, and the STEB Common Level Ratio (53 Pa.C.S. § 4681.12) for low-ratio / uniformity appeals. Philadelphia's appeal body is the Board of Revision of Taxes — a distinct body from the BAA — but the § 881-886 framework and § 884 on-the-record review still bind. The packet walks one homeowner through pulling the record card, building a defended packet, and showing up to the county BAA hearing prepared. Pay $37 once. Keep every dollar of the savings.
Pick the right county — the deadline on this page updates with the URL.
Land on /pennsylvania?county=Philadelphia (or Allegheny, Montgomery, Bucks, Delaware, Chester, Lancaster) to see that county’s 53 Pa.C.S. § 881-886 BAA filing window. Every other Pennsylvania county ships “data pending” rather than a manufactured countdown.
Three steps. One Pennsylvania appeal.
- 01Step 1
The assessment notice arrives
Pennsylvania county assessors publish the assessment notice each cycle. The BAA appeal window under 53 Pa.C.S. § 881-886 runs from the assessment notice — the County Reporting Area (CRA) calendar of homestead/farmstead and earned-income deadlines overlaps this window, and the deadline on this page is keyed to that published calendar rather than a manufactured countdown. Philadelphia's Board of Revision of Taxes sits on its own published sitting window separate from the BAA at the other 66 counties.
- 02Step 2
Build the packet
The packet is sequenced the way you actually build the appeal: walk the county record card, pull three comps, draft the right letter (equalization, value, or factual error), slot the whole case into the evidence-packet template. Pennsylvania county BAAs accept the filing by mail or in person at the county courthouse; Allegheny publishes a printed BAA sitting calendar, and Philadelphia's Board of Revision of Taxes First Department hears residential appeals on the city-published calendar. The STEB Common Level Ratio under § 4681.12 anchors low-ratio / uniformity appeals where county assessments diverge from the broader market.
- 03Step 3
File before the § 881-886 window closes and show up
File the appeal inside the county-published BAA sitting window. Each county's BAA sits on its own published calendar — Allegheny prints theirs, the other counties vary by year — so confirm the county calendar before scheduling. After the BAA denies, further review sits with the Court of Common Pleas on the record under § 884. Read the four-line script once the morning of the hearing, bring the packet, and answer the objections as rehearsed — not improvised. The morning-of packet is what the BAA chair flips through first.
The four moving parts.
Every Pennsylvania county BAA appeal runs through the same four checkpoints. The packet targets each one, so the file the board reads is built the way the procedure expects.
- Appeal body01
Board of Assessment Appeals (county BAA)
Every Pennsylvania county except Philadelphia convenes its own Board of Assessment Appeals — § 881-886 — meeting in person at the county courthouse on the county-published sitting calendar. The same BAA hears every appeal in the county for that cycle. Philadelphia's appeal body is the Board of Revision of Taxes — a distinct body — but the § 881-886 + § 884 framework still applies. Allegheny is the only county publishing a printed BAA calendar with confirmed dates; the other 66 counties publish but vary by year.
- Procedural grounds02
Equalization, value, factual error
Three grounds carry almost every winning Pennsylvania case: equalization (your assessed value is out of line with comparable parcels in the same neighborhood code), value (your assessed value is above fair market value as of the assessment date), and factual error — wrong square footage, misgraded condition, an outbuilding counted twice. The STEB Common Level Ratio under 53 Pa.C.S. § 4681.12 anchors low-ratio / uniformity appeals where county assessments diverge from the broader market; the packet ships templates for each. Equalization and value are the most common.
- Filing window03
By the county-published BAA sitting window
Per 53 Pa.C.S. § 881-886, an application for relief from an assessment must be filed within the county-published BAA sitting window — which, in practice, follows the assessment notice. Pennsylvania county BAA calendars are set per county: Philadelphia's Board of Revision of Taxes First Department runs on its own calendar, Allegheny publishes a printed BAA sitting calendar, the rest of the confirmed counties publish but vary by year. The § 881-886 rule binds for all of them; Court of Common Pleas review on the record under § 884 follows a BAA denial.
- Hearing format04
In-person at the county courthouse (or city hall, for Philadelphia)
Hearings run on the county-published calendar — most counties schedule their BAA sittings in the early part of the assessment cycle. The packet is what the BAA reads first; bring it bound, tabbed, paginated. The board will walk the comps with you and respond to the assessor's evidence on the record. After a denial, the packet ships notes for further review under 53 Pa.C.S. § 884 — Court of Common Pleas on the record — and the STEB Common Level Ratio § 4681.12 read for low-ratio / uniformity grounds.
The five things Pennsylvania
homeowners ask first.
The same questions come up before the appeal — and the same honest answers apply to a § 881-886 BAA appeal as anywhere else.
The five things people
ask before filing.
Read this once before paying. The same questions show up every time — and the honest answer to each is below.
Pay $37 once. Keep every dollar of the savings.
Start at the $37 packet and pay by card. Toggle the +$17 hearing-script bump on the way to Stripe if you want the four-objection rehearse sheet included — or upgrade to the $89 Pro tier and get the script, the comps worksheet, and the four-county packet index all in one.
What the Pennsylvania kit covers
- · A Pennsylvania-record-card audit checklist.
- · Comps worksheet + free comp sources list.
- · Three appeal-letter templates (equalization / value / factual error).
- · Evidence-packet template, BAA-formatted.
- · 53 Pa.C.S. § 881-886 BAA + § 884 Court of Common Pleas guide.
- · STEB Common Level Ratio (53 Pa.C.S. § 4681.12) low-ratio reading.
Questions first? overruled-2@polsia.app
Back to the broader kit → /#kit
Not legal advice. Overruled ships information and templates — checklist, worksheet, letter forms, evidence-packet template, and a 53 Pa.C.S. § 881-886 BAA + § 884 Court of Common Pleas-on-the-record filing-window guide — so you can prepare and represent yourself at a county Board of Assessment Appeals or Philadelphia Board of Revision of Taxes hearing. The further-review path on a BAA denial is the Court of Common Pleas on the record under § 884, and the STEB Common Level Ratio (53 Pa.C.S. § 4681.12) anchors low-ratio / uniformity appeals. Not a substitute for a property tax attorney, especially for rentals, multi-property, commercial, or matters in active litigation. Paid firms typically take a percentage of your first-year savings; the packet exists so that money stays yours.